The game was tied through seven innings. Then the eighth arrived, and Pittsburgh took over. The Pirates scored five runs in that frame to turn a deadlock into a comfortable margin, handing Washington an 11-5 defeat at Nationals Park on Sunday.
Brandon Lowe delivered the decisive swing of the night. After Konnor Griffin's single to right scored Davis and Triolo to give Pittsburgh a 6-4 lead, Lowe followed with a three-run homer to right, a 396-foot shot that pushed the advantage to 9-4. Lowe finished 1-for-5 with 3 RBI and his 21st home run of the season. Griffin went 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, while Nick Gonzales was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, batting .312 on the season. Henry Davis added a two-RBI single in the ninth as Pittsburgh tacked on two more insurance runs.
Pittsburgh had built its early lead in the second inning, when Tyler Callihan singled to right to score O'Hearn and Gonzales, and Jake Mangum followed with a single to left that scored Callihan, making it 3-0. Bryan Reynolds extended the advantage with a solo homer to center in the third. Washington answered with a two-run homer from Luis Garcia Jr. to right in the bottom of the third, then pulled within one on Jorbit Vivas's groundout in the fourth. C. J. Abrams's sacrifice fly in the fifth scored James Wood to tie the game at 4-4 — a tie that held until Griffin's go-ahead single in the eighth.
Brad Lord took the loss, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits in 1.1 innings, falling to 5-2 with a 3.88 ERA. Gregory Soto earned the win in relief for Pittsburgh, pitching 2.0 innings and allowing 1 run on 1 hit with 2 strikeouts, improving to 5-2.
Pittsburgh moved to 45-45 with the victory. Washington dropped to 46-44, losing for the second straight game.